£250,000 funding boost for sport on Isle of Wight

THE Isle of Wight Council is set to help more people get into sport thanks to £250,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Sport Activation Fund.

It will use the funds to run a wide range of community sports and physical activity sessions designed to encourage people of all ages to get active. The funding will also be used to expand the range of after school sports activities for young people.

Cllr Shirley Smart, executive member for economy and tourism, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive funding from the Community Sport Activation Fund. It will allow us to develop our sports provision to include a wider range of activities around the Island – hopefully motivating people to get into sport and get them coming back for more.”

Mike Diaper, Sport England director of community sport, said: "It’s great to be working with innovative projects, like the one on the Isle of Wight to offer people the chance to get into sport in a way that best suits them.

“The investment being made through the Community Sport Activation Fund is making a real difference at a very local level. I’m particularly pleased that more than half the funding is going into projects in deprived areas, helping more people develop a lifelong sporting habit.”